The top seed Johor Southern Tigers took Major Basketball League Malaysia playoff Game 1 of the best of three series with an emphatic 95-69 drubbing of KL Aseel.
Johor’s intense pesky full court defence helped them to a 30-20 first quarter lead and continued their dominance in the second quarter saw them increase to 61-36 at the half.
Opting to play a smaller line up for most of the third quarter, KL Aseel had a better run ,cutting Johor’s lead to seventeen going into the final quarter.
Johor’s clinical form from three resumed following Reye’s ejection with Heng Yee Tong and Yek Liang Chuan both dropping a pair of threes to crush KL Aseel’s comeback hopes, giving them a comfortable finish to the final buzzer.
Player Of The Game was again with another all round performance from Johor’s Tevin Glass with 20 points, 16 rebounds (9 offensive boards) and 7 assists.
KL Aseel’s inability to grab the rebounds and poor three point shooting (5/24) proved their downfall. Jun Manzo was their best performer with 19 points.
NS Matrix handed the undermanned Singapore Adroit a 108-87 defeat to go 1-0 in the best of three series.
NS Matrix’s lead was above 20 early in the fourth, proving too big a mountain for the undermanned Adroit who offered little resistance for the rest of the game.
It was a great debut for NS Matrix’s new import Amir Williams, introducing himself to Malaysia in impressive fashion, earning the Player Of The Game award with 14 points, 23 rebounds, 2 steals and 2 blocks.
Ting Chung Hong also impressed with 23 points, 7 rebounds and 5 assists, while Ooi Xian Fu and Jeff Viernes delivered 16 markers each.
With only seven players today, Adroit couldn’t keep up and ran out of steam late in the third. Charles Garcia was their best player, scoring 35.
